8 tips to save on your water heating

According to the Energy Saving Trust each household in the UK uses on average around 360 litres of water each day.

Roughly 20 percent of your household heating bill is for heating your hot water so learning how you can use water more efficiently will help you save money on your energy bills.

A good place to start is by checking with your water supplier to see if they offer any free gadgets that can help lower your household water consumption. Thames Water recently ran a campaign where they offered money saving freebies to their customers.

For those of us who don’t have a water meter installed it’s easy enough to monitor water consumption simply by comparing your utility bills. If you do have a water metre you’ll be able to see exactly how much water (and money) you are saving on a daily basis by adopting these handy tips.

1. Shower instead of having a bath

Needless to say really but filling a bath tub will use a lot more water than taking a quick shower. Longer showers may use more water than a shallow bath so you have to consider which is more likely to save water.

Letting the shower run for too long before you jump in is common source of water waste. If you turn off the water in between applying your shower gel or soap and lathering yourself and also washing and conditioning your hair you’ll save even more water.

2. Spend less time showering

The average shower is a little over eight minutes long. Getting out of a lovely warm shower into a colder room is what keeps many of us under the showerhead for longer than necessary. Keeping the door closed while you take a shower will ensure that the bathroom stay warmer making it easier to hop out and dry yourself off.

3. Turn down your water heating temperature

Most boilers are fitted with adjustable temperature settings. They usually range between 40°C to 80°C, with a hot water setting of between 40°C to 60°C. Lowering the water heating temperature will save you money on heating costs. It makes sense that you’ll probably need a higher temperature in the winter months than the summer, but make sure that you don’t leave it set too high in the warmer months otherwise you could be wasting money.

4. Turn the taps off

Keeping taps on for longer than absolutely necessary is where many of us are guilty of wasting water. A running tap wastes more than six litres of water a minute. If you wash your dirty dishes in the kitchen sink its much better to fill a bowl with hot water to rinse rather than under a running tap.

Brushing your teeth is another time that you can turn the taps off. Rather than keeping the water running constantly we only need to use water at the start and end of the activity.

5. Lower appliance temperature

Lower the water temperature of your washing machine when doing a wash cycle. A cold water rinse is a good habit to get into as well as this alone will potentially save you money on your water bills. Additionally try to make sure you have a full load before you use it.

The same goes for your dishwasher. Try to make sure that you fully load the dishwasher before washing. Obviously if you have to leave dirty plates and cutlery hanging around for days on end before your dishwasher gets full it may be easier to hand wash – or downsize your dishwasher. Many dishwashers have economy cycles too, so ensure that you use these for lightly used dishes. If you dishwasher has a booster heater you should be using it!

6. Find and fix any leaks

Dripping taps are easy to identify but you make also have hidden leaks that are contributing to excess water usage. It’s important to find them and fix them. See our guide to hidden plumbing leaks for further information.

7. Fit some water saving devices

Water saving devices such as a showerheads, tap inserts and that work by mixing air with the water creating a low-flow so that you lose less water without losing water pressure. They work by mixing air and water and will save you one litre per minute on average. They may not be suitable for electric or multi-jet showers so it’s always best to check first.

Save a flush bag: A bag thats is filled with crystals that you put in your toilet cistern and saves approximately one litre of water per flush. Unfortunately they are not suitable for push button, or dual flush or lim line toilets. Check with your water provider as they sometimes give these and other water saving devices to customers for free.

Heat traps: If you have an older water heater tank you could save money by installing a heat trap. Heat traps are valves or loops of pipe installed on the cold water inlet and hot water outlet pipes on water heaters. The heat traps allow cold water to flow into the water heater tank, but prevent unwanted convection and heated water to flow out of the tank. Newer water heaters have built-in heat traps.

8. Upgrade your appliances to water-efficient models

Cut water waste easily by getting a water saving machine. Not all water efficient washing are adequate in terms of rinsing your wash load properly so it’s important to choose a model that has a balance between low water use and impressive washing. Which? are a great resource for finding the best models and they have a great article on water efficient washing machines

Upgrade your dishwasher to a water efficient model. according to which? the best water-efficient dishwasher can wash as much as 130 items using just 7 litres of water. Read the full article water efficient dishwashers

If you can think of any other great ways to save money on your water heating please let us know in the comments section below.

8 tips to save on your water heating

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